


The Lost Grimoire Witch

by RatedOni



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: BAMF Pansy Parkinson, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Good Slytherins, Lesbian Character, Manipulation, Pansy just being fabulous, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Redemption, Slow Romance, Slytherins also need a hug, Time Travel Fix-It, Trust Issues, a lot of crying
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-14
Updated: 2020-09-18
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:21:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26460349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RatedOni/pseuds/RatedOni
Summary: She had been preparing for this for over a decade and now was the time; she had been gripped by guilt and now she will be free, she will give everyone a fighting chance, she will change the future even if she dies trying.After seeing the devastation and the darkness in a world corrupted by Voldemort, Pansy Parkinson sends herself back into her old body, with knowledge and power that will hopefully let the people she cares about survive the dark days and who knows, maybe she will be able to find some peace and redemption for herself, but she is not that lucky.There is probably no happy ending waiting for her at the end of the road, but this is bigger than her and she ready to pay the price for a second chance to make everything right.
Relationships: Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Hermione Granger/Pansy Parkinson, Lucius Malfoy/Narcissa Black Malfoy, Remus Lupin/Nymphadora Tonks
Comments: 13
Kudos: 41





	1. Holding Back the Years

The fabric rubbing at her wrists was not silk, after all, it had been years since Pansy Parkinson had even wore something made out of silk, or velvet, or any dress like those t that her mother and her mother before that had used as matriarchs of the respectable house of Parkinson; it was simply cotton, of high quality indeed, allowing her skin to breathe and soft to be comfortable, but long gone were the days in which Pansy Parkinson walked around like a lady of society as she had been instructed for almost all of her childhood, gone was that little girl.

In her place, there was only the researcher, the erudite, the Keeper of a Thousand and One Grimoires as all the important people in this dark and lonely world kept calling her; the title had been coined several years ago, but she found that she didn’t mind the title, not now when her life had become an endless search of letters, journals and books, all to keep the Golden Age of Voldemort shining brightly for eons… what a joke.

The world was not golden, there was no bright future nor present, only desperation, but they all deluded themselves, losing themselves on their glamour, parties and blindfolded eyes as the stumbled closer and closer to the precipice, while the clown with no nose laughed and laughed, lost on his delusions of grandeur and sickening (nay, childish) desire for power and recognition, as the world crumbled around them, with no net ready to catch them as they tumbled down.

Better to be known as a mistress of books and be mocked openly for it, than just another pawn ready to be sacrificed at the slight wince just for the amusement of few. Yes, she was the spincer, constantly mourning the tragic demise of her beloved heir of house Malfoy.

Yes, his death had almost broke her, but just like the ancient art of gold repair from Japan, she was whole and more valuable and beautiful than before, with power ready at her fingertips, but with enough wisdom to know when to use it; maybe that’s one of the reasons why she had been allowed to exist in her quiet existence, since her knowledge helped the armies of the Dark Lord to remain strong and in power, while her research allowed them complete control over the isles and the crush of any resistance.

She hated herself for helping that… creature, since any sliver of humanity had been vanquished from that emaciated snake-like being, but she knew that the price she paid in the past had allowed her the freedom to do her own personal research that had culminated on this day.

Or maybe it was that she had been The Betrayer, or the True Believer, depending who you asked; ready to give Harry Potter up in a silver platter as the Dark Lord marched triumphant onto Hogwarts. It was like a branding that Pansy has never been able to vanish from her skin and mind, a ghost that kept haunting her until this very day.

Pansy shook her head, the beautiful raven hair shaking alongside it, shimmering with the bright lights of the deepest part of her home; all six levels underground, each harder and harder to reach for any other wizard, with spells, traps and enchantments harder and harder to break as one kept going downwards into her personal laboratory. Not even Gringotts had the amount of protection that her ancestral home currently had, the last project William Weasley and her had been able to work with, before… before they all… before, truly before; still, it had been arduous work, one that she relished in its entirety, which had led to this place.

Her own Sanctum, her Grand Avalon as Daphne had called it when she had visited the first Level and even if the rest of the complex had been a complete secret to everyone and everything, her old friend had been amazed at her job; she had to smile at how she could have been simply mind blown by what she was hiding deeper and deeper.

Another one that had left.

More sand between her fingers.

Just one more reason why she was here.

It was one more name on a tombstone that she would get justice for, but first, she had to complete the plan, make everything perfect for one more thing, so she adjusted her cotton robes and took note of everything that had been prepared for this very day; the day when everything would change, or at least she hoped it would be.

On the half a dozen tables around the edges of the chamber, there were cauldrons in stasis, with their finished projects still slowly shimmering and bubbling, their content already invaluable for what she hoped would happen soon.

There were even new things, or at least for the job of a modern witch, just like a fully functional AT computer that had helped her in ways more wizards could imagine; who knew muggles… no, human beings were so clever in their own little ways, cutting down her number crunching time to an infinitesimal part. Something that would have taken her decades, maybe even centuries to decode and decipher and prepare, had only taken her 5 years, a short time for this to pay.

Books, trinkets, beakers, boards, material, scrolls, they were all collected here, maybe not the most esoteric collection, but considering the dark and forbidden grimoires, tomes of complete danger and cursed journals on her possession currently residing in the other levels,this was a different thing; less forbidden, but in a way even more dangerous to the men and women in power at the moment.

“The design had been already drawn on the floor and the six potions are right now in position Pansy,” the voice said with her usual optimism and cheer, something that Pansy had… while not become used or grown to like, at least it was something that she had learned to tolerate and enjoy in its own way.

The eyes of the woman standing in the middle of the room were empty, devoid of the spark and fire that had resided in them when they were young; in its place, there was nothing but love and devotion… a lie, a perfectly constructed lie and something that had guided her, protected her and give her the greatest source of guilt in the last 12 years alongside her.

Hermione Jean Granger had been dead for more than a decade and instead, Jane of Parkinson House had taken her place, a fitting price for a loyal subject as her and she hated herself so much for relying on her presence more than she could ever admit.

“Guess this is it, we are successful or we end up dead, either way we win I suppose,” she tried to joke, but her hands, usually stoic and firm when she had to defend herself against monsters, curses or the stray fanatic wanting to take her place among the powerful and favorited by their lord were now betraying her; she was afraid, of what would happen, of what it could mean to them if either a success or failure visited them this day.

“You should have more confidence in yourself Pansy, you have never failed since I know you,” her smile was supposed to be calming, reassuring, and only twisted Pansy’s stomach more. A gift, she had been a gift for showing the most loyalty among the students of Hogwarts, who were ready to fight against their true leader, but only she had remained at his side and gave him the chance to take Potter.

Oh, how much she had wanted to take a knife and plunge it in the place where she must have had a heart, but time and time again, looking at the empty eyes of the one who had been Hermione she stopped, after all, if she died, what would happen to the girl? Sure, her mind had been wiped out of any previous personality, but she was so codependent on Pansy that she was afraid she would soon follow her if Pansy commited suicide, and she couldn’t condemn another soul, that’s why she was doing this.

“I have confidence alright, if I didn’t I wouldn’t have reached this point, of course, with some help on the way.”

“I only did what I was supposed to do, Hermione’s memories were still intact, even if the personality is gone now, that really did help us along the way,” the six candles, made with specific ingredients and in the correct amount were all placed around the circle in the floor; red, blue, yellow and green, alongside white and black, the two sides of magic.

The candle colors had been tied up with the magic coming from the leyline that had been located under Hogwarts, that is before it had been forcefully redirected by Pansy a year ago for this project, something that had taken Pansy almost a decade of constant research and experiment to be able to do; something that probably not even the founders of Hogwarts thought was possible, probably not even Merlin himself.

Hogwarts, without the constant force of the leyline, would probably crumble in a year or two more, but it was better that way, better to die than be another chained slave on this doomed world, still, if that sacrifice made possible this opportunity, then Pansy would do it again in a blink.

“Make sure that the salts are located around the inner circle, it would allow the magic to center and stabilize the link of yesterday,” at least, that was the theory, to use the raw power of Hogwarts, alongside candles representing the magic of each house with the dark and light side of magic itself to rip open the lines of destiny, to remake what once was, something that many thought was impossible.

To go back on time an hour or two? Sure, if time turners still existed, but to open the time stream itself and choose where to send your own soul? To gain back that lost time and be who you are in the body of who you were? Complete nonsense… until now.

“Already done it, everything is ready for the sacrifice to be made,” and that’s why it was impossible to do, how the time stream refused to change, because it required a living soul for the process to be altered, a soul that had to be extinguished for the time stream to move backwards for another to move backwards without impediment, and she knew it had to be hers. On Jane’s hand, there was a specially prepared steel knife that had been enchanted, created for this very purpose.

“I guess this is it, everything will be gone after this I suppose; hold the bag close to you, we still don’t know if things will be able to be placed on the younger body, better to keep a tight grip Jane,” Pansy tried to smile, for she knew this will be the last time she looked at that perfect face and she tried to remember how Hermione looked like before all this happened, before they were prisoners in this world, all because of her, because it was Pansy’s fault and this was the last chance to make things right, but instead of holding the bag, Jane simply closed Pansy’s hand around the bag.

“Pansy… my lady, it won’t work that way, you know it; I was born with only two rules in my mind and I cannot break either of them. To forever love you and to never raise my hand against our Lord,” she knew, she knew well, but still, she didn’t want to think about that, maybe… maybe if she was brought back she would be free, she would be Hermione again, but the girl was dead and instead Jane remained and they both knew that.

“I just… wished it could be different, that it would be you the hero like always, but I guess even in that I am wrong,” she tried to joke, she tried to laugh, but she could feel the tears falling across her cheeks; Jane looked at her and softly smiled at her, before brushing some tears away.

“Wish I could cry too, just please… take care of Hermione, for me, for you, I can’t be there for you, but please, don’t do this alone; goodbye Pansy Parkinson, know that even if my love was a spell, I did grow to truly love you and I’m sure she will too,” and then, without even blinking, Jane plunged the knife on her chest and the world was light, darkness and creation itself and then, Pansy fell down, her knees and hands on the floor, she tried to breathe, she tried to recover her sight, her mind, her body due to what could only be described as being born again.

The world around her started to come into focus, to be real once more and she noticed how different the floor was, how different her own hands were… how different the voices around her were.

“Pansy? Are you alright? Are you going to be sick on the floor? Because if that’s what’s going to happen, I’m not helping you clean that,” the voice was slightly different, but it was one voice she hasn't heard in so long.

And there she was, Daphne Greengrass, her long, flowing, beautiful golden hair like a halo around her head, and it was gorgeous, absolutely divine to see that hair and face once more, not in a picture or the drawings around her house, but truly in front of her.

The blonde young girl must have noticed something was wrong with Pansy, because instead of the rather haughty and slightly mocking voice, her face morphed into one of real concern; say what you want about the old days, but the people she knew, that she truly knew, were gentle souls and this was the proof.

“Oh shite, you don’t look well, let me take you to the infirmary at least,” she was touched by her worry in a way, but Pansy knew that she needed to first calm, she needed to be alone, she needed to get under control.

“Is okay, I’m fine, I just felt a little weak, guess I haven't been eating well this last few days,” she tried to get herself under control, try to remain calm as she once more existed among the walls of Hogwarts, in a body that felt alien and the same in a weird way, as she had not just broken every single rule known of magic just to get herself another chance at redemption and salvation.

“Told you this would happen, you need to eat more and get something in your body besides that oatmeal you eat,” helping her up with one hand, Daphne quickly reverted back to default mode, barter and humor; oh, how she had missed her dear friend, but now as not the time to break down.

“Not everyone can eat the same amount as a dragon for breakfast like someone that I know,” it returned easily to her, as if she hadn’t just visited Daphne’s tomb a few days before, reminiscing about the old times, asking for her help from the other side of the veil, but old traditions were hard to left behind thankfully.

“Yeah, sure, don’t blame me then when you are nothing but bones and skin at the end of the day, anyways, are you sure you can do your rounds in this condition?” The blonde was a lot more relaxed now that she knew Pansy was not in danger for now, but knowing her, she was going to shower her in candy the moment they came back to the common room.

Still, if what she knew about the preparations for the spell were right, she knew about what she was talking about, at least the year, she wasn’t still sure about what was going on since a precise day was still impossible, even with the years of study and research.

“Please, I could do those with my eyes closed, is so freaking easy, the gryffindorks are so freakingly easy to scare, nothing but a bunch of cowards really, don’t worry, I’ll see you back at the common room,” she quickly waved back at her now living friend and quickly went her way into memory lane.

She quickly found an alcove in where she but crashed down, her body finally giving up after the rollercoaster of things happening in less than an hour.

Pansy had done it, she had truly sent her own soul and mind backwards in time, she had truly done it, she had won the right to cry like a lost little girl after doing something so mind blowing as this. She didn’t care how silly she looked crying and sobbing alone in a lonely hallway of her old school, she needed this, not only for those that she had lost, but for those that she could save, for those that were still alive and could look and oh Morgana, Draco was alive and he was probably in the common room and she could finally hug him one more time and everyone was safe and she… she needed to calm down, she needed to breathe.

Getting back on control, she willed the tears to stop, she could cry more later, right now she needed to get things back in control and prepared for the beginning of things to change; first, she took notes of herself and what she wa wearing, mainly the I in her robes that indicated the Inquisitorial Squad and Pansy grimaced at the horrible proof of what a prat she had been back then, or right now, time travel, right.

She had been a little bitch truly for believing the stupid words coming out of the toad, but hindsight was 20/20 like Jane would have said, and the years since school had truly opened her mind and ears to the drivel that her parents and pure blood society had been feeding her alongside with the rest of her generation, no wonder the Gryffindor students (and the rest of the school, really) did not like them, they were monsters, even if they had been almost pushed into the loving arms of Voldemort by the senile excuse that they had as Headmaster.

Still, that was the Pansy that knew nothing except luxury and future power, she knew better now, she had fought for that after all, so, she was part of the Inquisitorial Squad, not great, but still useful, very useful, so with a vague idea of where exactly on the timestream she had been spit out, she quickly found what she had been looking for, a bag that had been shrinked magically and with one simple move from her hand it took its correct size.

Inside were years of her research in potions and spell construction, enchantment, relics, horcruxes, antidotes and anything magical that she was afraid could be lost in her time jump, with several of very useful grimoires that she had collected for over a decade, all of them in an ordered manner, all thanks to the original spell work of Jane, since she had been the one that gave her the idea and most of the framework for the new bag of holding.

Jane, the name made her heart twitch, in pain, guilt and something more; she was here because of her, because of what she had done, and Pansy Parkinson was not going to let that sacrifice be in vain, she was going to put things back in order, but first, she needed to find the person that could help her in this situation, Morgana be praised, she might be more knowledgeable than 99% of the whole castle, but she was not crazy enough to do this by herself.

Rising up, she took out her wand, her true companion in all of her years of study and adventures and with a quick flick of her hand, the yellowed scroll opened up and began to ink itself. The original map had been burned alongside most things that belonged to Harry Potter, but it didn’t take long for Pansy and Jane to create a better version, one that was not tied to Hogwarts, but as Pansy began to put some of her magical energy into the Augur Map as they had called the creation, something bizarre had happened.

As her magic flowed and made contact with the world around her, something deep on the castle pulsed back, almost like saying hello to an old friend, something that made Pansy’s eyes widen in surprise, quickly understanding what was going on.

“I see, after all, I used your power for the spell, it was no surprise that some part of you resides in my own magical core, I guess this could be useful on itself… don’t worry, I swear I’m not here to hurt you or fight against you, I’m here to fix my mistakes… to save people that paid the price instead of a stupid young girl that didn’t know better,” and what better way than to start with the other young girl that was currently busy inside the library.

It wasn’t even a surprise, but it was a welcoming sight to see her busy among the myriad of books across her table; Morgana, she was so young, they all were, but looking at her like this, with the same wild hair, the eyes focusing on the ink plastered upon the aging paper, full of energy, of fire to know, to understand, to help, it made something in Pansy vibrate in excitement; at least something good had come from all of this.

Walking in the direction of the table, she could see how Hermione’s face morphed, form one of quiet determination, into one of weariness and disgust; it hurt in a way, but she knew better, after all, they weren’t exactly friends, neither on the same side, not that Pansy had ever been on any side, she had simply been drunk on power, or at least, the power that she thought she had. Now, now she knew better and truly had the power on her hands, one that she had worked hard on, but for now, she was content to simply walk at Hermione’s table and start her plan for the betterment of tomorrow.

“This is our most desperate hour. Help me, Hermione Jean Granger, you’re my only hope,” she had prepared those words, specifically to get that kind of reaction; looking at the brunette’s face of confusion, then shock and complete confusion due to her words made it worth it, well, not really, but it was a start “I knew that quoting Star Wars will get your attention.”


	2. True

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pansy is back, she did it, but now comes probably the hardest part, make Hermione believe in her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me be clear, I love the Harry Potter universe, but I hate the way it is written. Rowlings only took parts of other creations and made it into her own, but let's be clear, the world, as vibrant and full of possibilities, it is as lifeless as it could possibly be; she only wrote it so she could make herself the hero in the worst kind of self-insert writing as I have ever seen, and yes, Hermione is a self-insert that borders on Mary-Sue sometimes, why? Because Rowlings wanted to be like that when she was young, but instead, she did the most pitty and childish things. 
> 
> She commited one of the worst sins, she used one of the characters in a vindictive revenge, not for a literary reason, but personal ones; Pansy was created only to focus all her hate and rage against those that bullied her when she was a child, instead of creating characters, and yes, she had all the right to do something like that, but making her work worst just because of personal reasons? These characters deserved better, this world, as vibrant and full of opportunities deserved better and considering the woman is all woke revisionist right now, we will never get any semblance of professional writing from her ever again.
> 
> Also, abruptly changing topics, the first chapter title is a reference to a gorgeous Simply Red song, while this one is a Spandau Ballet, see if in the next episodes you discover the reference.

There was still beauty in this world, she was sure of it, there was still things that were worthy if one started looking hard enough; there was once a time where she found it everywhere she went, everywhere she traveled to, but that another lifetime, another Pansy that could look at the world with the eyes of a child and think, yeah, this is the world, this is amazing, this is mine and I am amazing for finding these things beautiful too.

That was a lifetime ago and just a few years back, when the world still made sense in her young mind and rose colored futures still polluted her mind alongside the stupid ramblings of her parents and their ideas of how perfect the world was because they were better than the others around them; it was useless for them in the end, considering their great ideals, their amazing future following their true savior and their future life had all but crumbled at their feet, after all, a house is only as good as the foundation.

Still, they had taught her one thing, and that was that the world was beautiful, if you could just omit the parts when they started rambling about the beautiful world being polluted by those that weren’t like them, basically those that weren’t as… pure as themselves.

They were fools.

They were dead.

She missed them sometimes.

Those were the times when she allowed herself to fall, to crumble and simply be what she was truly, just a lost child in the middle of a world that was as strange as her life; she was only 19 and all the pressure of the world had decided to crush her with the bitter reality that, yes, she was one of the guilty for how the world was.

She may not have been wielding the wand that killed all those children, but her hands were as bloodied as the darkest Death Eater, they were filthy, they were guilty and nothing could change that fact, all because she had been a coward at the time.

Like the autumn that was all around them, she felt as if her body was made of those leaves, slowly decaying, breaking apart, flying away in colors of red and gold until nothing remained, but she wasn’t one of the lucky ones, she was made to survive, while those around her simply left… or died and was unlucky enough to see them being put on the ground, forever mourning those that will never return.

Vincent was the first, one that was not on her hands, but still pulled a shadow over her head along those that had perished in the greatest victory the Wizard side of Scotland had seen, that if you only read the ‘official’ version of the battle, all written to appease their supreme ruler. Death by magical fire, it sounded so heroic, like a sacrifice, not what relaly was, just an unfortunate and stupid decision by someone that had more brawn than brains, but he had still been her friend… and it would not be the first time one of her friends had left the world.

She kept saying to herself that day that she had uttered those words while pointing at Harry because she cared, that she didn’t want anyone dead, she just wanted things to end, to save her friends and others, but it was a lie; she said it because she had been nothing more than a coward.

What an irony, here she was enjoying the cool breeze of the autumn weather, immersing herself in the colours of those that even to these days probably curse her name; pure red and gold, the colours of bravery, of recklessness and not even an iota of fear.

Ironic indeed as she watched Jane looking at the falling leaves with a bright smile on her face, full of innocence; the girl in a ways was like a child too, naive sometimes, full of energy and curiosity, it would have been endearing if she didn’t know where it came from, why she was like this, how terrifying her whole existence was considering that Pansy had a hand on her creation.

Mental wiping was a horrifying process and Pansy remembered the whole thing, not because she had enjoyed, but because it was a gift to her, a terrible thing that made Pansy a different person, made her realize that those dreams she once had, those of her living like the Slytherin Princess on the Malfoy Manor as the rightful owner alongside her husband Draco, as they held court among the other purebloods and lived in a fairy tale world.

Those dreams died the moment she opened her mouth and like a coward, she was the one that had survived; Vincent was gone, Blaise was gone, Tracy was gone… Draco was gone and it was all her fault.

Even Hermione was gone, and instead, there was another girl wearing her face, moving her body and living in a world of lies and darkness, even if everyone around her kept saying that the new Golden Age was approaching and everything will be great, but only for those that were loyal to that monster and who knows for how long.

As Jane focused her smiling face on her, she beckoned her with a stretched hand, silently asking her to join her in her childish happiness; maybe she could do it for now, even if she was living in a fake happiness, maybe she could find some happiness at the side of Jane.

Maybe, by taking care of the girl, she could find a sliver of life, maybe she could pay for her crimes by giving her a life full of happiness and comfort.

That was just a bunch of lies.

There was no salvation for someone like her.

**The Lost Grimoire Witch**

There was a certain satisfaction watching Hermione Granger’s face morph into several types of faces and each and every single look was amazing in its own way; it was intoxicating to watch someone so free with her emotions, so ready to let go and just tell you in your face what she thought.

She had missed that so much, it was something that you didn’t know you needed after years and years or nothing but monsters ready to lie right into your face or never show what they thought and you had to fight and claw at every single action just to see their plans.

It was one of the reasons why, years after the war and when there was still a resistance against the one with no nose, she enjoyed the company of those that once she saw as lesser wizards, just because they were poor and they didn’t adhere to the traditions of true purebloods; who would have thought she would miss Ginevra Molly Weasley and her fiery disposition to fight and argue, it had been like a shot of new air on her bunker and secret laboratory, at least the small one that had in construction at that point, but it was not to last, because she had… left, like all the others.

“Excuse me?” What… I just… what?”

“Who would have thought, little old me left the greatest witch of our age speechless… it is funnier than I thought it would be,” she said softly, almost to herself, something else that had made Hermione Granger’s mind simply crash down and that was a very rare occurrence.

She had become accustomed to always have an answer for everything, and if she didn’t, then it was time to hit the books and learn more so she would never be at a disadvantage in a world she had felt she didn’t belong in the beginning; first it was something she did to finally fit in, to be someone in a world that was new and exciting, but then it became part of her, something she did because only she could do it.

Pansy Parkinson just appearing in front of her, ready to get a rise out of her like every single time they met, ready to insult her ancestry or the way she looked, that she could understand, she even thought of it as a normal interaction with the pureblooded witch at this point, with years of bitter resentment and acid words being shot from one side to the other, like warring states that did not declare open war, but still found the time to piss each other off as possible as they could.

So this, just appearing out of nowhere and cite a quote from her mother’s favorite movie, and even name it and admit that she took from it, was just so completely mind blowing that her brain needed time to take this information and safely put it somewhere for study later on, because it just didn’t fit on what she knew, or thought she knew about the other hogwarts students, although, being frank, let us be honest and admit that Hermione was many things, but someone that got along with others and truly tried to know them , she was definitely not, she had two friends and a bunch of acquaintances at best.

“Did you just come here to mock me? Is that it? Just another way in which to make fun of the ‘mudblood’?” It was true that she was tempted, so very tempted to do something to the raven haired girl in front of her, but two things kept her hand in check; first, this was the library and Madam Pince will not hesitate to severely punish those that attempt against the quiet and peace of her kingdom known as the Hogwarts Library. Second, and probably as important as the first one this year, Parkinson was a member of the Inquisitorial Squad, and she would find relish in making life and that of her friends even worse than it was at the moment, not to mention that all that she had been planning could be jeopardized by a stray word, so she had to be careful.

“Mock you? No, it is not a mockery of human culture, considering how much that movie means to you; you’ve never liked it as much as your parents, but it has a special meaning, a connection to them that remains, even if your worlds are completely different these days,” something was definitely wrong with the world right now, because Hermione could feel how it began to tilt in a way that had never done before.

There was no other explanation to this bizarre occurrence than that of being a lucid dream, or maybe it was a stray spell, or… or maybe one the books in the restricted section had been cursed and she was trapped in some kind of disturbing illusion. Everything would make more sense than Pansy bloody Parkinson speaking about her life and her relationship with her parents in a voice so full of nostalgia, comfort and understanding compassions, it just didn’t add up.

Now she got it, this is not Parkinson, this was just a very disturbing joke and there was only a duo that could pull this kind of shenanigan in the school.

“Okay, very funny, you wanted to prank me, you got it, this was very creepy, but I have to give you guys credit for pulling something like this, so who is it? Are you George or Fred? And where did you get the polyjuice?” She had finally cracked the mystery, it had been a good prank she must say, very original, after all, seeing Pansy Parkinson being so human and emotional, there was no other explanation than a person masquerading as her.

“Of course, those two, if something weird started happening in the school, it was either the twins, something that Potter did… or had something to do with Tom Riddle, just like every single year,” and there it was, the shock, the pure shock of something that could not be real, that made Hermione Granger stop and simply look at the other girl “there is no polyjuice, no Elixir of Moonlight Specter, this is not a joke by Gabriel’s Box, nor a curse form the Bracelet of Mirrors, this is just me, Pansy Nikola Alys Parkinson, daughter of Percival Linus Parkinson, head of the Parkison family and Leonore Lydia Parkinson, descendant and still member of the Uesugi clan of Echigo,” at each name, at each action, Hermione’s mind was more and more blown, more disturbed, more… intrigued.

“Wait, Uesugi? What? You are Japanese?”

“Of course you will fixate on that little part; well, mother was so enthused with being a proper member of the pureblood circle in Britain that she made sure everything that could link her with any… impurities in her blood could be well hidden, not that it worked that well, for all the airs of the perfect pureblood witch she gives herself, mother hasn’t always been that good at schemes.”

“Then why did you make fun of Cho Chang?” At those words, Pansy winced slightly at the memories, if a little vague, of her making fun of Chang’s blood and obvious asian heritage.

“I was such an idiot then, although in my defense I wasn't aware of my own heritage, not that it would matter now that I think about it, I guess that is another person I need to apologize to, but yes, mother may not be an active clan member, but according to my sources even my name was written on the family scrolls, which makes me a member of the clan, apparently they will bring me into the family if I ever decide to leave behind the british islands,” this was… incredibly interesting, someone that was apparently a member of a foreign magic family.

For all the information contained in the Hogwarts library, there was basically no mention of eastern culture or magic; the farthest region and culture she could find was a small section dedicated to information about the ancient wizard cults of Egypt, but nothing about modern life in the region; certainly nothing as far away as Japan; in a way, that set of islands was still as mysterious as it had been for the muggle part of Europe back in medieval and victorian ages.

But wait, this made absolutely no sense, here she was talking about another culture and family situations with none other than Pansy Parkinson, this was just completely ridiculous; she blamed her thirst of bizarre and esoteric knowledge for this, because there was something even more bizarre right in front of her.

“Okay, that is fine, you are apparently not polyjuiced and apparently, there are other magical ways in which to make yourself look like someone else; are you telling me, that you, Pansy Parkinson, is asking me for my help?” It was so ridiculous it just made absolutely no sense, so it was even more bizarre to see Parkinson not only not sneering at her, or glaring as it was her default look when the two met, but this time she was simply watching her with a very small smile on her face, as if she was enjoying this moment for some bizarre reason.

“I know, bet you didn’t see this coming, but it is true; there is something that is happening and you already know about it.”

“We are not going to let Umbridge take control of the school that easily,” and there it was, the one thing Pansy missed the most after all those years, that look of pure fire that Granger always had when she felt particularly incensed about something; just looking at something so purely human in that face, it gripped Pansy’s heart fiercely.

“I’m not talking about the hideous frog,” oh, how Pansy had truly detested that useless, arse kissing, worthless lump of witch that was Dolores Umbridge; she had gotten a rather sickening amount of joy when the woman had ‘inexplicably’ disappeared from the public eye. Pansy did not felt guilt about that particular event, even if no one could prove that she may or may not have had something to do with it “this is bigger than her, but I don’t want to say what is going on, not here, this is a little too public; me talking to you like this will already make people curious.”

She was right, right now there weren’t so many people around, but those that were had already seen two of the most famous, or infamous depending on who you asked, students in the school for very different reasons, so seeing them talking was surely going to be the topic of this week gossip; Hermione was sure Lavender was going to magically appear in search of more news at this situation, which by the time it reached her roomate, the gossip would have evolved into something completely different.

“Fine, but if this is some kind of trap from you, I’m not going to be nice about it,” the fierce glance was simply answered back with a smirk, as if the other witch was enjoying this banter.

“I know, but don’t worry, this will be worthy if only for the look in your face, see you in the Room of Requirement little Gryffindor,” those words were as playful as she felt empty inside; it had become so much of herself that sometimes it was hard to leave that behind.

Looking at the confused look in Hermione’s face, made her realize something, and that was that the other girl had absolutely no idea what she was talking about, which made clear that her group of misfits did not exist yet; that allowed Pansy a lot more opportunities than before.

“I have read Hogwarts, a History dozens of times and I can assure you that there is no place with that name inside the castle.”

“Everything will be clear to you if you go to the seventh floor, on the left corridor you will know exactly what I am talking about,” and with those words she left, as abruptly as she had arrived.

It was not an action that she chose, it was just ingrained in her so much as a way to survive that she knew it would be perfect for the next several days; she was sure she was going to break down into tears at any moment, but for now, she was a rock, she will hold… they will live this time.

Just looking at every face was almost enough to make the mask crumble, to run into their arms and cry and keep on crying until the sadness could pass, but she knew the truth, that she couldn’t do it, no matter how much she wanted to grab Draco and take him as far away as they could, to leave this cursed land and find some happiness for themselves and leave the world behind… but she done being a coward.

So instead of hugging the life out of him, she merely touched his shoulder and changed back from her school robes, taking delight on the most simple set of clothes she currently had, just a skirt, a black blouse and her low heeled boots. Looking at the rather obnoxious clothes currently in her closet and chest, Pansy knew she was going to change her complete wardrobe; just looking at the expensive silk and brocade was enough to make her wince. The memories of women dressed like that as the screams of poor young boys and girls being tortured in one of the most gruesome parties that Riddle hosted would forever plague her mind.

Taking her time, enjoying the peace that permeated the halls of the castle, she did what she couldn’t have been able to do, finally relax, safe in the knowledge that the world was not what it was; sure, several students had simply moved away from her path, a couple suddenly turning around and taking a turn just so they would not walk close to her may have been funny once, but she just didn’t put attention to it, like the terrible stress and unhappiness that could be seen clear on several student’s faces, but for someone that had become almost numb to the looks of despair, it was still a relaxing walk.

And it was just in time, because she saw Hermione Granger standing in the left corridor of the seventh floor, already looking tense and ready for a confrontation, while also looking curious enough to walk a circle in the floor.

To Herrmione, this may just be another empty corridor, somewhere where Pansy could use as a place to ambush her, but for Pansy, it was a sad reminder of where she lost for the first time, where her whole finally crumbled in pieces after opening her mouth and letting a monster in.

“Relax, I am not tricking you or setting a trap, although, if you were sure this was a trap you wouldn’t have come or at least would have brought someone like youngest Weasley or even Potter as backup,” looking at her face, it was clear that Hermione haven’t thought of that, always so ready to do things by herself, to be so completely independant when something new reared its head.

“I… that is a good point, so what exactly is on this corridor? There is nothing but some very weird paintings,” oh yes, the dancing trolls were probably an acquired taste, but still, she may have had a copy of that in one of the rooms in her room back in the… future? Probably? Did that make her Marty McFly?

“There is a place that allow others to meet and find respite, or maybe just what they need at the time, some call it the Come and Go Room, but I prefer the other name, the Room of Requirement,” and so, she began to walk in front of where she knew the door will appear and as she expected, the door appeared in front of them making Hermione more surprised and excited that she had been before.

Opening the door, Pansy stood ramrod straight as Hermione watched every corner of the magically created room, surprised at the decor and furniture around the place.

“Odd, this place looks almost muggle, like a coffee shop, how is it possible?”

“It… the room knows what you need, what you are thinking, what you desire at the moment and then it gives you a space to be able to do it,” and this time, Pansy was the one that was surprised, because she knew this place, or at least what Hogwarts was replicating.

This was something that happened just a couple of years after the war, on that autumn evening when she swore to herself that she would protect Jane and as they enjoyed the peace of that day, they found a nice little coffee shop, one they frequented, until darkness also got its hands on that place and the owner had been killed on one horrible raid, just because they had been born without magical powers.

“It probably sensed we needed to talk and it brought something from both of us,” the genius girl was already making hypothesis about the place, not that she was that far off, just not with the whole information to make a sensible guess as to why it looked like this, but Pansy welcomed the memory, the place, the feeling of melancholy and longing so deep on her soul that it could just grip her neck.

“That… or just pulled something from my memory, something so precious that it was still untainted by the darkness outside,” something in Pansy’s face brought Hermione to a stop; she had never seen the other girl so defenseless, as if the sight of the tables and the small sofa with a table not too far off were about to make her cry; it was a look so intense that just joined the amount of things so mysterious about the Slytherin student that Hermione noticed this day.

Getting her emotions back in control, Pansy took a sit and with a soft gesture she pointed at the chair in the opposite side of the table to the other girl and tried to get her thoughts in order; she had practiced this explanation hundreds of times, but being here, well, it brought the words of Helmut Von Moltke to mind, that no plan ever survives contact with the enemy, and while Hermione was not quite the enemy, not this time around, this was not an easy situation to explain.

“Well, I think there is no better way to explain this than by being completely honest; I am Pansy Parkinson, just… not the one you know from this time; I come from the future, I came back to save those that I lost and yes, that it includes you Hermione,” the brunette's eyes focused on her and she must have believed her, after all, she was also a fellow time traveler what with her experiences back on third year.

“Is something going to happen today that you just had to get back? And how did you get your hands on a time turner?”

“Oh no, I’m not talking just about a couple of hours, I’m talking 15 years into the future and you lost… we all lost, that’s why I’m here.”

“Wait, that’s… what? 15 years? Are you… you cannot… what do you mean we lost?!”

“Exactly as it sounds, Tom Riddle won, guess the chosen one was only able to do it just once because he was unable to stop him a second... or eight time considering how many times he had tried every single year, but he only needed to get lucky just once, now that i think about it, he was good at beating his plans, not HIM directly.”

“Just… I’m sorry, let’s just take for a second that I believe you and that is true, why would you even come back to change that? You are on Voldemort’s side!” again those words, she knew they would come, it did not change the fact that they hurt, bad enough that she was sure that it was like a knife sticking into her spine, breaking her body like the worse Sectumsempra as she had seen many suffer, a phantom pain, something that was not here, did not happen, won’t happen, had to come back, had to focus on the present.

“I was never in anyone’s side, I didn’t care, not that it is an excuse, but it is the truth; I did not wish for anyone to suffer, but I was wrong, I never tried to look for the truth, I was too much of a coward for that, but with your reaction I guess you already believe me,” the smirk was there on her face, it was good, it could hide most pain like that, it was a good mask.

“It is the only thing that could make sense in this situation, what with your attitude and the muggle knowledge, which I’m almost certain it was me the one that told you all that, but why? Why would you want to come back if it is true that Voldemort wins? What would make you want to come back and… apparently change the future? Even more important, how did you do it?!” Of course miss know-it-all would want to know that.

“An old wizard, Marduk-kabit-ahheshu had a theory of how to bring yourself back into the past, but nobody paid attention to his writing, too foreign, not form a region that was big to researchers, after all, Merlin had already theorized that time travel on that scale was impossible, how could he be wrong; and about the movie, you told me, in a way,” and even now, with the girl in front of her, it still hurt, after all, for one to exist, the other had to disappear.

“Well, then tell me your story if you want me to believe you.”

“Then get comfortable, because it is not a nice one.”


	3. The Witch is Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Talking and more talking, also screaming, finger pointing and a lot of dark stuff concerning the war, hopefully these two will be able to work together.

Her hand was shaking even worse than the last week, that meant that the potions were starting to lose effect; she could already feel the claws of desperation and anxiety clawing the door of her mind, ready to tear it apart and make her suffer, like every single time she had tried to close her eyes and go to sleep.

Everything was wrong, every single light, every pair of steps walking around the school, was it even a school anymore? With many of the students already dead and the elves and imprisoned survivors taking too long to clean the hallways from the dead, there was never any peace on the castle, not now, probably not ever.

She kept looking in the direction of her suitcase, knowing where she kept the potion ingredients that she haven’t even used that year, not with the fear and the chaos, with the darkness that had swallowed such a lovely place; she probably had enough to concoct a quick and painless poison, maybe she could use it now. 

She was done being a coward, so maybe this time she could gather her courage and finally do this world the favor of getting rid of her once and for all; who she was kidding, everything that had happened was her fault anyway for being a coward, so if the world was keen on keeping her alive to make her suffer for her sins, well, so be it she supposed.

One of the pair knocked on her door, well, it wasn’t really her door anymore, what with the school years all done, she wasn’t a student technically, what would happen now? She just kept thinking that just to keep herself from falling into darkness right now, not now, she couldn’t crumble now… or maybe she could; maybe she could convince anyone into giving her the killing curse, would that be cowardly?

“Miss Parkinson,” she heard the woman in front of her say in a rather mocking way; Pansy didn’t recognize her, just another witch that truly believed in the ‘cause’ probably, just another faceless goon that the Dark Lord was using as cannon fodder “Our Lord wants to have a word with you,” her voice and her accent was as crash as she looked, probably a Northerner.

Well, this was it, maybe she will get her wish and she will quickly be disposed of, or maybe her death will be long and painful, either way, it was nothing short of what she deserved.

The Lost Grimoire Witch

Chapter 3: The Witch is Back

“I suppose I should start at the beginning, the problem is that there are several beginnings; there is the beginning of the last battle, but there is also the beginning of the darkest age Wizardly Britain had ever seen, and finally, there is the beginning of when I simply gave all the Death Eaters the two finger salute and began doing my best at destroying them all,” the dark haired witch had a sardonic smile as she kept on explaining the horrible things from her future.

“Start with the last battle then; when will it happen? What went wrong?” Always right to the important point, that was one thing that hadn’t been erased by the spells and torture, thank Circe for those small miracles.

“It was at the end of seventh years; things… haven’t been great by then, even before that last stand. The school was under the control of Riddle, just like the rest of the ministry, really, the whole country was a nightmare and we were living right at the epicenter of everything,” the memories of those days were mild compared to what happened after, but still, for those that had survived that nightmare it marked them to the end.

“And we just let it happen?”

“You had no choice, you left the school, apparently you had your own mission, besides, open warfare when your numbers are so small against the person who controls the auror department? Everyone says you are a genius, don’t give me proof of the contrary.” It would be bad to say she was loving the glare that Hermione was throwing her, but for her this was the true Gryffindor student.

“And by that, I’m sure you mean Harry, Ron and I.”

“Correct, just don’t ask me exactly what you were doing those days, you were never able to remember exactly that time period, but the why is for a later part, suffice to say that the school had stopped being a haven for the students and instead it worked pretty much like a mix of concentration camp and ‘re-education’ center.”

“Always knew Voldemort was too much like the nazies,” the brunette shook her head, her unruly curls flying around with the movement in what would have been rather comical in any other circumstance, but stil, Pansy enjoyed it nonetheless.

“The only thing missing was the salute, and instead of the swastika a skull and serpent; but yes, it was bad, sadly it got worse when he and his cohorts sieged the castle.”

“I thought you said the school was under his control?”

“Well yeah, but the memo probably never reached McGonagall, because her and the rest of the teacher expelled Headmaster Snape and the cronies that Riddle had put as teachers that year.”

“Wait, are you saying that Professor Snape was the headmaster? What happened with Professor Dumbledore?”

“He was dead, for over a year by then, killed by Snape of all people,” she then raised a hand, preventing Hermione of jumping up in surprise and predictable Gryffindor outrage “he was dying anyways, something to do with a curse placed on a ring I think, never quite got the full story and the pieces that I was able to put together didn’t paint the whole picture; needless to say, his sacrifice had been staged to make Snape look as completely loyal as they could… not that it worked in the end.”

“And so it led to him attacking the school; he has always been incredibly obsessed with Harry and Hogwarts, what happened then? I suppose we lost,” the word tasted bitter in Hermione’s mouth, almost sickening to think that all her effort, all the death and sacrifices meant nothing in the end, but she needed to know how it happened if she had a chance to change the outcome.

“I think it is obvious that he always wanted a complete victory, for everyone to see him as the right ruler of the isles; no matter, he arrived and did a whole speech about not wanting to hurt anyone in the school and that he had only wanted Harry Potter and he would leave everyone alone,” that moment, that decision, that speech it was what had spiraled her life into the abyss, and it was only by pure luck and chance that she had been able to claw her way back from the hold of self-destruction.

“Oh please, as if he was telling the truth, he had never cared about anyone but himself,” she didn’t know, she didn’t know about her sins, but she had a long time to get comfortable with her nightmares, enough to even look at them in the eye and have pleasant conversation any time it was needed.

“Indeed, but we were young, so very scared of what he would do to us if we didn’t follow his command so I just… opened my mouth and the world stopped making sense,” her eyes were blurry, remembering that moment, when she uttered those words while pointing at the returning Harry potter and company, how everyone stood silent as her words echoed the great hall as they all watched her. 

Hermione’s face morphed, from being slightly confused, to understanding exactly what she had done; it was a good thing that Pansy still had razor sharp reflexes, because she was sure that Hermione Granger would not pull her punches when it came to Pansy.

Just as the brunette was lifting her wand, the black haired witch was even quicker, doing a quick movement with her wrist and sending the scarlet spell flying, hitting Hermione directly on her chest. The other girl went soaring backwards as Pansy quickly caught the ten and three quarters vine-wood wand from the air without even blinking.

The look from the disarmed witch could smoulder small animals maybe, but considering what Pansy Parkinson had lived through, it had as much power as a child’s pout, completely harmless.

“How could you!” The rage on the defeated witch was legendary and while it was hard to see her this incensed, bar several things like elves’ rights, it was quite the treat to see her so alive about something, even if those sentiments were being directed at her, “then it is your fault!”

“Believe me, you won’t tell me anything I haven’t heard before and no matter what happens, I will live with my sins, now and forever; there is nothing you can do or send at me that I haven’t done to myself. I lived almost half my life hating myself, wishing to die and be done with it, but I am done being a coward, so save the recriminations Granger, it is not a particularly good look for you.”

“Well, what a moment to grow a bloody backbone!”

“Hard to be angry about something that hasn’t happened, and that for all purposes will never happen, is it?”

“You are here, so it means you did it at one point! How could you do that?! Did you hate us that much?!”

“Of course I don’t! I was a scared girl, but that’s no excuse, I know, still, it happened, I opened my dumb mouth and I all but offered the saviour of Britain to Riddle.”

“And what? The whole lot of Hogwarts just up and decided on doing that? Did they all decide to just surrender and give Harry up?” Hermione eyes warily at the hand Pansy was offering her to get up, but she simply snorted and got up by herself, making Pansy roll her eyes at how stubborn the witch could be.

“Please, you have seen the amount of loyalty this school has when it comes to Potter; one moment they are cheering for him because he did something stupidly brave, the next they are all calling him the Slytherin Heir or blame him for every single thing… like Cedric’s death,” she said softly, knowing how the shadow of that boy’s death still clings to the halls of Hogwarts; it was enough to make Hermione wince, knowing exactly how much it was affecting Harry this year.

Leaving the witch behind, Pansy sat down once more and waited for the other girl to take her place, all while looking as if this was just another day or a simple tea reunion with an old friend; Hermione had never seen Pansy like this before, granted, the other times she had interacted with the other witch it had been with barbs and insults, as the Slytherin got her nose up in the air so high that she looked even more puggish than usual, but like this, she seemed completely under control, after all, she had already demonstrated her aptitude with the wand.

“Then, what about the rest of us? Ginny, Seamus, our friends?”

“You were still outnumbered, and while McGonagall had ‘liberated’ the school from such a horrible tyranny, she didn’t exactly have much control on the students, it just… snowballed from there, with many saying that Potter had abandoned them and just hid away as they all suffered while he was being protected by everyone.”

“He hates that, I’m talking about Harry; he hates how everyone keeps trying to protect him and not letting him know what’s going on, never giving him agency in his own life.”

“I know, you told me enough times in the future, I would say cry me a river, but being a prisoner of well meaning people is not funny.”

“You keep saying that, you mean I trusted you enough to forgive you for what you did?” while she didn’t accept her help, Hermione still accepted her wand back, tucking it away after deciding that it was better to keep things civilized… or as much as it could when she was still wanting to throttle the other witch’s neck.

“In a way, but yes, you trusted me, or what was left of you,” once again, she raised a hand to stall Hermione’s question, there was still enough of the tale to tell for them to get to that part., “still, back at Hogwarts, with no real consensus of what to do and with more and more students suddenly deciding that maybe, just maybe, if they went ahead with Riddle’s promises then everything would be fine things got a little more than just heated.”

“Bunch of cowards, the lot of you,” it was said as a whisper, but Pansy’s skin had become diamond hard when it came to whispers, it had to be considering how she had been treated most of the time, oh, sure, they were not able to tell those things to her face, after all, she was quite high on the power totem in the ministry, it would be almost suicidal; but for those that still clung to the hope of one day vanquishing Voldemort and those that were with him, she was more than fair play to attack and torment.

“I won’t deny that, not back then, so there we were, a school divided, with most students ready to grab Potter and throw him to the snake in charge outside and less than a dozen ready to defend him when he appeared in all his noseless glory,” it was weird hearing Pansy Parkinson talk in such a way about Voldemort, or, hell, anyone except maybe Professor Dumbledore, but he talked without fear of the dark wizard, not mockingly like the young witch.

“I suppose he started to gloat.”

“Oh indeed, he tended to do that, a lot, but Potter, as the courageous martyr that he was, forgive me, but that’s the one image I always had of Potter, decided to fight him right then and there; but something went wrong, this time there was no miracle saving or opportune moment, he just fell… and the rest of the world with him,” her eyes were haunted, remembering that moment, when Potter died, and those with him quickly followed, how his empty eyes had kept plaguing her nightmares for months, even years, until she made peace with that part of her life… the alcohol helped on that regard.

“That was it? Did we even have a plan?”

“Granger, let’s be honest, you always have a plan; but yes, for what I could gather, you were looking for something important, a weakness that Riddle had, but you weren’t able to gather it and for some reason, your backup plan never came up; tell me Hermione, have you ever heard of the story of the Deathly Hallows?” Hermione’s look of confusion was enough for Pansy.

“Is that some kind of legend in the wizardry world?”

“Something like that; The Tell of the Three Brothers is a story about how the brothers in the title met Death itself and each brother ask for something specific, each getting a gift and a curse at the same time; a wand so powerful that no one could beat him with it, a stone that allowed the user to call back the death or something like that, and finally, the last one recieved a cape that made him invisible to everyone including Death.”

“Wait… a cape that made the wearer invisible?”

“I see you get it, apparently it was dear old Dumbledore’s plan all along, that if Harry gained all of them he would just stand up from whatever the bastard would do to Potter, and then put the final coffin on Riddle’s plan… shows what he knew, because Potter fell, he never got up and then the rest fell,” it was pure fear, pure pain, her mind crashing as the world crashed with her as students panicked and then, the clean-up started, Pansy then blinked, returning to the present, but even Hermione caught on what Pansy must have remembered at that point.

“He won then… and you helped him,” it wasn’t an accusation, it was just stating a fact, something that Pansy could work with.

“Yes, the light fell, and so many along with it; most of the Hogwarts’ teachers died that day, a punishment for their insubordination.”

“What of the Weasleys? Did they die too?”

“No, well, not all of them, for what I remember Weasley was all rage and vengeance, he fell right after Potter, but Ginevra escaped alongside the twins… they were even able to take Tracey with them,” at that last name Hermione drew a blank to the surprise of Pansy.

“Tracy Davis,” she repeated again, but Hermione only shook her head not knowing who she was talking about “I just can’t… Tracy Davis, Slytherin from our year!”

“But… why would she escape?”

“Because she is a half-blood you gormless prat! Everybody in Hogwarts knows that! Merlin, her family has always been opposed to the noseless-one! if there was someone that needed to get the fuck out of here was her!” For the first time since they met this day, Hermione saw something else beyond the calm face of Pansy Parkinson, and in a way, it was scary.

“How was I supposed to know that?!”

“Oh Morgana, how could someone so smart could be so utterly useless in everything else? Maybe if you just stopped hiding from the world behind a book or decided to talk to more people than two boys with barely a half brain cell in their head between them you should see that not everything in this school is divided black and white and that maybe there are more people alive in here besides just Gryffindor!” She remembered Jane’s trouble connecting with people, or even understanding blatant social cues, but she thought that had been a result from her personality rewrite, well, apparently that had been something that she inherited from the girl in front of her “Guinevere’s veil, how have you all survived this long?”

“Well, excuse me for not being more ‘social’! Maybe I should ask that murderous bastard of your boss for some free time so I can apparently gain experience in social interaction!” Was Pansy seeing things or the girl’s hair was now gaining height due to her voluminous hair? Nope, it wasn’t her imagination, apparently some stray magic was arcing across the wild jungle that Hermione called hairdo.

“You have roommates! Sure, Lavender may be a vapid slag at her worst, but she would jump at the opportunity of having some girl-talk with you, and if you need some intellectual conversation there are plenty of other students around who you can interact with… wait, Merlin, what am I doing? I am not your therapist,” the witch had to massage the bridge of her nose considering how utterly ridiculous their talk had become.

“Well, I didn’t ask you to start analysing me or insulting me! But what’s new with the last one!?”

“Let’s just get back to the point of this whole happy reunion, shall we?”

“Fine.”

“Fine,” dear lord, Pansy had forgotten how utterly exhausting it was to be an adolescent back at Hogwarts, seriously, Hermione Granger just always brought the worse out of her, it must be some kind of curse that was put on the rival houses by the founders, there was no other explanation for all this nonsense “so Hogwarts fell, all their mightiest heroes gone in just one night alongside your brave Order of the Phoenix, and yes, I got to know all about it after all that, I had plenty of time once the ‘Dark Lord’,” here, Pansy raised her hands and did air quotes at those words making Hermione’s head spin with the mannerisms so incredibly muggle that Parkinson showed fro time to time “ congratulated me for being the only one to show loyalty out of the school.”

“You must have been so proud of yourself.”

“I think I was so incredibly traumatized due to watching so many people I knew being brutally murdered for being traitors to the cause that I could barely even walk,” she almost dared Hermione with a look, to see if she would say anything about that, but surprise, even the other witch could recognize the bait and avoid it; after a few seconds of not receiving any answer or recrimination Pansy kept on with her story “seems that I was so loyal that he had decided to keep me alive, of course, he didn’t say it in those words, just superfluous nonsense about me being so smart, how I was a true believer or something like that.”

“You said that… that Harry and Ron died there… did I… did I escape with Ginny and the rest?” She was almost scared of asking, but she needed to know.

“No… they captured you alongside others,” her words were heavy with the revelation and Hermione did not like where the story will go from there “he wanted to make a spectacle out of all of you; he began to look for Ginny and her brothers with even more energy, but he at least had you and Longbottom; he spend the rest of his life in St Mungo after Bellatrix was done with him, guess she wanted to complete the set,” Hermione wanted to cry, imagining poor sweet Neville alongside his parents, neither recognizing each other, forever trapped in their minds.

“What… what about me? What did he do to me?” She was afraid, for the first time since she started helping Harry, she was afraid of what the future will bring; she may laugh at those that believed in divination and nonsense like that, but to have someone from the future literally tell you exactly what could happen to you, well, she just couldn’t refute it that easily.

“He didn’t a thing to you, at least nothing physical so don’t worry, he is a monster, but apparently even that monster draws a line at raping, but no, he didn’t kill you, he didn’t torture you, he just did something worse in destroying your mind,” she dind’t want to have that in her memory, but knew that she couldn’t have that luxury, she needed to remember everything, that was her penance “she erased your personality, alongside important memories about him and his weakness, you were basically dead, with someone new walking in your body.”

“Is that why you said that I… forgave you in a way? I was… dead… he killed me… was she… a slave or was she used in anyway?” Her voice was between shocked and worried, as if she was hoping that new person, the one that kept her body, had been treated right.

“Yeah, apparently Riddle wanted to gift her to the newest member of his private club, so that’s how it happened, how the world stopped making sense and I began to take care of the one who remained; what happened next was years of research, covert missions to get minuscule amounts of revenge and seeing more and more of old and new friends die, while I was the only one that remained, until I decided enough was enough and gambled everything on one action and here I am, so I guess it did pay off.”

“Wait, there’s lots of things you haven’t explained, what did you do all those years? How did you come back? What about Ginny and the rest?”

“Easy Granger, we have a lot of time to deal with all that, but for now you need to go back to your lion’s den, they must be worried about what that despicable Slytherin must have done to you.”

“More like they will be asking how hard I punched you for making me angry,” was that… an attempt at a joke? Well, Pansy was going to welcome that, it was better than being seen as bad as Riddle “what now then? I mean, you are part of that horrible toad’s squad so I guess I will see you around more than usual.”

“Oh indeed, but unlike last time I’ll be working on my own, who knows, maybe you will even receive some help from… anonymous sources from time to time, also, I suggest you to look into protego charms for ways to communicate between each other for your little DADA club,” she said with her perfected smirk back on her face, now that most of the dark stuff had been let out in the open; at those words Hermione stopped with her hand on the table as she was getting up.

“Wait, how did you… of course you know,” at this, Pansy simply shrugged and something told Hermione that she should get used to seeing that smug expression on the dark haired witch “you are going to keep doing that, isn’t it? well, this definitely wasn’t a pleasure, but I suppose I have no other choice but to trust you, but if you step just one finger out of line-”

“Yes, you are going to make me pay, this is not the first time one of you Gryffindors have made that kind of promise, see ya soon my dear,” with the smirk, which was right now becoming a full fledge grin, she watched Hermione Granger leave, but she was for the first time content, even relaxed, knowing that it had been years since the last time she had felt this much hope for the future.

The smile remained until minutes later, when, while walking in the direction of the dungeons, she was all but jumped by a giant pink frog about to burst, oh wait, it was only Dolores Umbridge. it seems that she had been looking for her if the sight of both Blaise and Daphne alongside her were any indication.

“There you are dearie,” Pansy almost shivered with disgust at the sound of such fake sugary voice, but she had a strong hold of her emotions after years of experience in Voldemort’s ‘court’ “I’ve been looking for you, it has come to my attention that you were seen… fraternizing with some worrying company, apparently not even your friends knew where you went” quickly looking behind the woman she saw her two friends react to that, with Daphne pointing at herself while shaking her head in a clear message that it wasn’t her, and Blaise, well, he never did care too much about all the strange happenings in the school so he probably was just an innocent bystander in all this drama.

“Oh, I assure you Professor, it was nothing of the kind, in fact, you will be happy to know that right now I’ve been able to gain traction in infiltrating the enemy lines,” if the woman wanted her to be the perfect little pureblood girl she will show her what she wanted, ad with the look of curiosity that it got her from the three present she knew it was time to start the show.

“Pardon me?”

“Oh, you should have seen, it was so easy to make Hermione Granger believe that I was on her side, after all, just some sweet words of me being undercover for her sake, it was so easy,” at this word she made emphasis, something that obviously Umbridge did not notice, but her two friends quickly caught up on the change “after all, I just had to tell her exactly what she wanted, show myself interested in what she was planning, I just gave her some respect and she truly believed everything I said, High Inquisitor,” behind Umbridge both Daphne and Blaise looked at each other, slowly comprehending what she was truly saying.

“Miss Parkinson, I commend you on your initiative.”

“Thank you Professor, after all, it was so easy to make her believe, I just had to play my cards, give her some compliments and she believed every single word, now soon she will think that I am on her side and we will be able to know everything she does,” with such a sweet and angelic smile on her face, how could you not believe her? Well, apparently Daphne and Blaise who were looking at her in shock, even Daphne’s mouth was open in pure disbelief.

“I knew you were perfect as part of my squad, keep doing what you are doing my dear and you may find a place for you in the ministry in the future,” it was incredible how someone this stupid could be so dangerous to the world.

“Thank so much High Inquisitor, by the way, is that sweater new, it is so beautiful,” as delighted as Dolores Umbridge was, the best reactions came from her friends, because while Blaise was a master in having control of his own emotions, the posh bastard, the way in which his eyes widened reached comical proportions. 

In contrast with the dark skinned member of Slytherin, Daphne Greengrass had never been known for any kind of restrictions or sobering reactions, so seeing this spectacle she had to slap her hands over her own mouth, otherwise she would started laughing so hard that even Umbridge would have caught on what was going on.

With her explanation Umbridge kept saying something about how proud she was with Pansy and that she could keep on going with her plan and she was all behind it, leaving the three friends in the middle of the corridor as her two friends tried to get their emotions back in control.

“Pansy, I don’t know what you are thinking, but please, if you are going to do a Finnigan, please do it far away so I don’t get in the blast radius of the outcome,” of course, that was codeword for when things tended to get explosive, what with the propensity of that certain student to make everything explode violently around him.

Receiving only a grin as an answer the two students started walking in the direction of the dungeons, leaving Pansy behind to her plans; oh, this year was going to be fun, maybe not to Dolores Umbridge, but that made it even more enjoyable.

Happy with the amount of chaos that she had been able to let free for the day, Pansy put her hands inside her skirt’s pockets, which yes, that was one functionality basically every female student in the school always wanted to have in their clothes, and her hand found something inside of one; it apparently was one of her many hair clips, she was always losing them, they weren’t exactly hard to replace, but it was interesting to see where they will appear next.

Just as she was to put them back in her pocket Pansy had another idea, a better use for something like this, so taking out her wand, she quickly started to work on it; after years of practice, experimentation and research, she could say with great pride that she was a master at most subjects now, among them transmutation, so bit by bit the hair clip took another form, changing shapes until it turned into something completely different.

A metallic wire frame was now on her hands, with two circular purple tinted lenses perfectly recreated; if she remembered correctly, they were groovy hippie styled shades, but she didn’t care about the name of the things, she just knew they were stylish, so after putting them on, she felt complete at last.

Oh yes.

The bitch is back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you want to know what kind of shades she was wearing at the end, just look for K/DA Evelynn and you will see how they look like, I just think they look cool as fuck.


End file.
